(Corrects headline, paragraph 1 to clarify that MPOB was referring to the 'average' palm price for 2019)

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The average price of crude palm oil is expected to rebound to over 2,500 ringgit ($609) per tonne in 2019, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said on Thursday.

MPOB chairman Mohd Bakke Salleh told a palm conference that he also expected total palm oil production to exceed 20 million tonnes this year. ($1 = 4.1050 ringgit) (Reporting by Emily Chow Editing by Joseph Radford)